230. To John Thelwall
Address: Mr Thelwall | Llynswen, [Llyswen] | Brecknockshire | to be left at the three Cooks in the | road to Brecknock -- By the Hay Bag. MS. Pierpont Morgan Lib. Pub. E.L.G. i. 99. Stamped: Bristol.
Tuesday, Jan. 80th, 1798
My dear Thelwall
Two days after I received your letter -- that to which you allude in your last -- I returned you an answer, directed J. Thelwall, Derby. In it I informed you of Dr Beddoes' answer to me -- 'how he had applied to those, whom he had entertained hopes from, without success; but was ready to contribute his own quota' -- and that I wrote back to Dr B. ['] that I believed you would probably accomplish your plan by the assistance of your friends; but that if you had occasion for his individual assistance, I would inform him as soon as I heard from you.' -- And I did not hear from youand it appears, that you did not receive my letter; for which I am sorry -- but I have lately had a letter from me to Mr Wedgewood intercepted, and I suspect the country post masters grievously. --
My Wife & Baby are well -- and I shall probably kiss my youngest boy in April. -- As to myself, I received an invitation from Shrews-
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monodies written on CHATTERTON, superior to the poem in question.' A.B.C.D. replying to Crito ( Monthly Magazine, Dec 1797) supposed that the two poems were written by Warton and Amwell, but he affirmed 'that MR. Coleridge, in his monody, eminently excels his competitors'.
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bury to be the Unitarian Minister, and at the same time an order for 100£ from Thomas & Josiah Wedgewood -- I accepted the former, & returned the latter in a long letter explanatory of my motives -- & went off to Shrewsbury, where they were on the point of electing me unanimously & with unusual marks of affection, when I received an offer from T. & J. Wedgewood -- of an annuity of 150£ to be legally settled on me. -- Astonished, agitated, & feeling as I could not help feeling, I accepted the offer -- in the same worthy spirit, I hope, in which it was made -- And this morning I have returned from Shrewsbury, & am now writing in Cottle's Shop -- / I received your letter this morning, & have lost no time in answering it. -- I shall be at Stowey in a few days; from whence I write to you of my plans &c -- & likewise concerning you. -Unhusbandize your lips, & give the kiss of fraternal love to Stella, for me --
I am hurried off -- & can only say that I think of you often -- & never without affectionate Esteem --
S. T. Coleridge